Thursday, November 1, 2007

In 2006, the HMNS paleo dig team launched a new program that puts educators on the front-lines of natural science. Called "Petrified CSI," the program brings teachers to excavate the oldest land ecosystem known to develop geology, biology and paleontology curriculum for their classrooms.

Museum expeditions have targeted the largest Dimetrodon cemetery in the world, a bone-bed near Seymour, TX. The teachers have already located six skeletons of the largest Dimetrodon species, as well as babies and teenage Finbacks, representing an entire growth series.

Dig team teachers point to a fabulous find - a piece of Diplocaulus skull.

Participants use crime-scene clues to figure out who ate whom 290 million years ago. After four trips in 2006, under the direction of Dr. Bob Bakker and David Temple, teachers have already scored key clues - including a fossil rarity that flummoxed the PhD’s.

The Teachers' Expeditions are employing modern techniques to answer the questions:

Why did so many Dimetrodons gather in single spots, like the bonebed near Seymour?

What were the Texas Finbacks eating?

What were the enemies of Finbacks?

How did Dimetrodon ecosystems differ from those of today?

To find the answers, teachers map each bone bit found in three dimensions. Then rock samples are dissolved and put through fine mesh screens to check for even tinier fragments. Especially exciting finds are the “fossilized bullets” – or teeth shed by Dimetrodon while it was feeding. The dental “ballistics” show where Dimetrodon was feeding and who its victims were.

In a Red Beds shocker, teacher Nancy Lauletta-Bowen discovered a fossil remnant of the notorious “Fox-Faced Finback,” known technically as Secodontosaurus. This close kin of Dimetrodon had a slender skull without enlarged killing fangs - and no such fossils had been found here for over 70 years. This fossil is so rare that Bakker said of the find, “I’d studied Seco’s while a grad student – but I never hoped to see one.”

Dr. Bakker is overjoyed with the results so far. “The teachers are GREAT! They spend ten hours a day down in the red dust, scraping the ancient soil spoonful by spoonful. And they’ve gotten lots of chewed-up victim carcasses….with Dimetrodon bullets! At last we have hard CSI data for the Red Beds.”

Even more important than the fossil finds is the teachers’ first-hand experience. As David Temple puts it, "Teachers go back to the classroom with unforgettable experiences – vivid memories of digging the Past and connecting it to the Present. Their students share the excitement and discipline of discovery. Solving science mysteries won’t be something they see only on TV specials. It’ll be right there, up front and personal.”

About

If you're interested in more general science updates, please visit the Museum's new blog.
For about a year, the Museum has been sending a team of paleontologists and volunteers to Seymour, TX, a little town about 2 hours outside of the Dallas/Fort Worth area that happens to be the world's best site to find Dimetrodon - the biggest, baddest, pre-dinosaur predator.
Led by famous paleontologist Dr. Bob Bakker, the team uses a "CSI" approach - picking out every bit of fossilized evidence they can find, from teeth to tiny bone fragments - in the quest to discover exactly what creatures died here 290 million years ago - and more importantly, how they lived.
While they're in the field, you can follow their exploits here. They'll be posting daily with pictures and information about what they have found and what it all means. You can explore more about the species they are finding and the answers they are looking for at the links below.
They would love to answer your questions - so come back, and post often.

***Note

The team has now returned from Seymour, and though we will be posting relevant updates as they occur, daily discoveries are on hold until they return to the field. Please feel free to explore the links below to learn all about what they've found - and leave us a question or comment to let the team know what you think.